Movie Review: Just Like Heaven

This probably isn't going to be a long review as I saw this a few days ago now so it's not quite as fresh in my mind as usual.

I went into this movie with fairly low expectations, which is usually a good thing as it wasn't likely to disappoint me (unlike King Kong...). I've seen quite a few films starring Reece Witherspoon and they've all been fairly enjoyable, but I wouldn't have gone out of my way to see a film starring her before.

The basic plot os that a landscape gardner (Mark Ruffalo), who is getting over his wife's death, moves into an apartment that was formerly occupied by a workaholic doctor played by Reece Witherspoon. Soon after moving in he encounters her "ghost" and after some initial anomosity towards each other they fall in love. I won't say much more than that about the plot as I don't want to spoil the twist (my wife figured it out about five minutes into the movie and spoiled it for me...ah well...).

I've read some critics complaining that the premise is not very realistic. Ummm....well...no...but...uh...it's a movie. Not only that, but I expect these same people praised Batman Begins for being so realistic. I don't need to spell out the absurdity of that, do I?

So, yes, this movie is silly, and light and fluffy and sweet. It also made me cry, a lot. Both sad and happy tears. To me, any movie that can elicit an emotional response like that has got to be good.

I don't want to go on about this film too much, but I would heartily recommend it. the cast are excellent, with some wonderful chemistry between Witherspoon and Ruffalo. Witherspoon is especially good and you can really understand why he falls in love with her. The supporting cast are also superb. Donal Logue provides a lot of laughs as a slightly dodgy shrink, but the stand-out performance is from Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) as weird book store owner Darryl. Early on I suspected that he was going to "make the movie" (as in, be the best thing in it) but he was actually slightly underused.

Take your boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife to the cinema and snuggle up in front of this movie, you won't be disappointed.

Rating: 9/10